Wabash County Chamber of Commerce WACCY Golf Chair Brian Campbell is pleased to announce the results of the recently completed 18th Annual WACCY Golf Outing at the Honeywell Golf Course in Wabash. One hundred forty-three golfers participated in this year’s two flight, best ball scramble, networking event.

Congratulations go to Crossroads Bank’s team of Jarrod McKee, Roger Cromer, Scott Bumgardner, and Matt Stone, who won the morning flight with a score of 56. The J.M. Reynolds Co. team of Chris Reynolds, Mike Cornwell, Ron Reynolds, and Dan Chenowith were winners of the afternoon flight with a score of 55. This also qualified them as the day’s overall winning team who will receive the traveling trophy, a free entry in the Logansport/Cass County Chamber Golf Outing and bragging rights for the year. In addition, each member of both the winning teams received a $40 Gift Card for the Honeywell Pro Shop from the Chamber, plus golf balls donated by Edward Jones – Steve Weir. Morning flight also won a hat donated by Agro-Chem, Inc. and afternoon won an umbrella donated by Wabash County REMC.

Second place finishers were the Wabash County REMC team in the morning flight, with a score of 59 and the Bulldog Battery Corporation team in the afternoon with a score of 58. Those winners each received a $25 Pro Shop Gift Certificate from the Chamber and golf balls donated by Crossroads Bank. Taking third place were the Staffing Resources team in the morning flight and Perry Pro-Tech team in the afternoon flight both with a score of 60. Each player was awarded a $15 Honeywell Pro Shop Gift Certificate and golf balls donated by Newton Manufacturing or Stanley Steemer Carpet Cleaner. Winning a free team golf lesson from Honeywell Pro Mel Thomas for demonstrating great team spirit and the need for some skills enhancement were the Ford Meter Box Company team in the morning and Aleris Recycling, Inc. team in the afternoon.

Recently, Wabash City Schools and the Metropolitan School District of Wabash County announced their hire of Melissa Brisco, who will be the Chief Academic Officer for both districts. Brisco fills the position of Lavonne Sparling at MSD of Wabash County and of Jan Roland at Wabash City Schools, both of which retired at the end of the 2013-14 school year.

Brisco comes to Wabash County from Noblesville High School, where she taught for 10 years before moving to MSD of Wayne Township to be assistant principal and eventually principal. She later moved back to Noblesville High School to be the Director of Learning, working with Title I and Title III. Title I is a federally funded grant for schools that have a large population of free and reduced lunch to help close the equity gap. Title III is a program to support English as a second language.

Brisco went to Marion College, Indianapolis, where she received her Bachelor of Arts in Elementary Education. She completed her Master’s at Butler University in their Administration program and is currently pursuing her doctorate at Indiana University, where she hopes to graduate in December. She comes from a family where education runs in their blood. Her parents were both educators, along with her brother and sister-in-law. She is the youngest of four kids and a twin.

With three school districts in Wabash County, consolidation is always on the mind of the community whenever schools make changes that bring them together. The joint hire by MSD of Wabash County and Wabash City Schools is only an opportunity to collaborate when it comes to their resources. “This cooperation between Wabash City School and MSD allows us an opportunity to gain expertise in the curriculum field and will also help us to build relationships with our surrounding neighbors,” Jason Callahan, Wabash City Schools' superintendent, told The Paper.

Wabash County Habitat for Humanity celebrated the opening of its new office space with an open house May 30. Previously, the organization worked out of an open office at Friends Church, and before that, there was no office in Wabash County. This represents the second major step in the local affiliate’s transition from a volunteer-only model to a full-time, staffed model, the first step of which was the hiring of Executive Director Steve Miller last year.

“It’s been a really smooth transition,” Miller said during the open house.”

Other than a few leaky pipes, the house was in good condition and structurally sound. After receiving some donations in the form of furniture, they did some decorating and made it their own.

“We actually moved in three weeks ago. That’s why its good to have volunteers, because otherwise it would not look like this. We’ve been really blessed in a lot of ways.”

The organization’s new office is a repurposed house located at 375 N Manchester Ave., on the corner of State Street. Two volunteers who helped with the project are interior designers, who Miller said made a huge difference. Terry Echard of Lafayette donated the house to the organization.

“We finalized the donation in November, and we talked about, could we rehab it and turn it into an affordable house for a homeowner, and that didn’t quite work,” said Miller. “And then we talked about, well, we could sell it, and we didn’t like that idea, so could we put our office there, and we talked about it and the key thing was making sure we could utilize the property properly.”

On Nov. 6, 2013, Carson Ryne McKee was born to Jarrod and Heather, McKee, Wabash. At his one-week check up, Carson was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis (CF). Always looking for new ways to stay fit and wanting to help a deserving family, family friend, Allison Eads-Dawes, Catalyst Fitness, decided to head up a benefit to assist Carson and his family.

Cystic Fibrosis is a life-threatening genetic disease that primarily affects the lungs and digestive system. An estimated 30,000 children and adults in the United States have CF. “Carson has the most common form of the mutation know as the Delta F508. A defective gene that produces thick, sticky mucus that clogs the lungs and can cause life threatening infections,” Jarrod, Carson’s father, told The Paper.

Carson is now seven months old, and he takes enzymes to help aid his pancreas. Carson currently takes over 20 pills a day. This number will increase as Carson grows older. Carson is also treated in the morning and the evening with a treatment called “pats,” where they pat him in eight different locations on the lung area to break up any mucus that could be building up in his lungs. “You would never and will never be able to tell he has Cystic Fibrosis as it’s known as the ‘invisible disease,” Jarrod told The Paper. “He can still play sports and excel in the classroom in the future,” added Jarrod. Starting out, the McKees were making monthly trips to Riley Hospital for Children, Indianapolis. They currently make bi-monthly visits, but the trips will eventually become every three months until they find a cure. They feel fortunate to work with Dr. Howenstine, who is a leader in the CF world and originally from Huntington.

Wabash Innovative Summit for Education to be held at Northfield High School

by Emily Armentrout

In a collaborative effort, the three Wabash County school districts are holding the first Wabash Innovation Summit for Education at Northfield High School on Thursday, June 12 and Friday, June 13, from 7:15 a.m. to 3 p.m. This conference will network opportunities along with workshops and keynote speakers, Eric Sheninger and George Couros.

During the Fall of 2013, Wabash City Schools, the Metropolitan School District of Wabash County and Manchester Community Schools applied together for an Indiana Department of Education Summer of eLearning grant. This application was completed by Justin Vail, Wabash City Schools, Brian Miller, MSD of Wabash County, and Janelle McLaughlin, Manchester Community Schools and the districts were awarded, together, $15,000 to sponsor the conference. Part of the grant required the applicants to obtain two nationally known speakers. “Both men are school administrators who have built a following by sharing their educational experiences through Twitter and blogging,” said Lavonne Sparling, former Chief Academic Officer for MSD of Wabash County.

Eric Sheninger, Bergen County, New Jersey, will be the keynote speaker for the Thursday session, beginning after registration at 8 a.m. According to the Wabash WISE website, “Eric is the award-winning principal at New Milford High School. His work focuses on leading and leading in the digital age as a model for moving schools and districts forward.”

The keynote speaker for the Friday session, beginning at 8 a.m., is George Couros. Couros is a Division Principal of Innovative Teaching and Learning with Parkland School Division, located in Stony Plain, Alberta, Canada. “George is passionate about distributed leadership within his division, and he believes that creating a collaborative environment with all stakeholders will held to ensure that we meet the best needs of all children,” according to wabashwise.org.

Second annual Wabash County Industrial Disc Golf tournament to be held

All area businesses are invited to participate in the second-annual Wabash County Industrial Disc Golf Tournament being held on June 29, at 8 a.m. at the Wabash City Park.

This tournament is a single-elimination format. Consisting of two person teams, best-shot rules apply.

Last year, eight, two person teams from three area businesses competed for a traveling trophy and bragging rights. The overall winners were: Josh Baldwin and Chris Gibson, from Owens Corning-Thermafiber.

To register, contact Heath Clark at 260-274-0362 or heath.clark @owenscorning.com or Alan Siepker at 260-563-0420 or alan.siepker@owenscorning.com by July 26.

There is no cost to enter and refreshments will be provided.

Posted on 2014 Jun 10

.C. Tucker/Wabash Realty welcomes new associate broker, Barb Drye

Barb Drye brings with her twenty years of experience in Real Estate listings and sales. Her desire is to do a great job whether working with buyers or sellers. Barb states, “My priorities are as follows: people come first, product comes next, and lastly profits.” She brings not only the experience, but a high Code of Ethics and Professional Standards to do the job right. She is a member of the National Association of Realtors, the Indiana Association of Realtors, and the Realtors Association of Central Indiana, and the Indiana Regional MLS.

A Southwood High School graduate, Barb has been married to Fred for forty-two years, who now enjoys being semi-retired after thirty-two years as the Pastorate. They have four children and seven grandchildren.

Barb looks forward to being a part of the Wabash Community and serving buyers and sellers with all of their real estate needs! You can reach her at barbdrye@gmail.com, or her cell 574-721-0876, or the office at 260-563-4962.

Posted on 2014 Jun 10

Brandt’s Harley-Davidson to host stunt shows

On Friday, June 13 and Saturday, June 14, Brandt’s Harley-Davidson will host the Great American Daredevil Bubba Blackwell for a series of Harley-Davidson stunt shows and one huge ramp-to-ramp jump!

For the first time in Brandt’s Harley-Davidson history, Bubba Blackwell, the Great American Daredevil, will be performing a Harley-Davidson, ramp-to-ramp jump over at least 10 brand new Dodge Darts! Mr. Blackwell is the only man in history to break all of Evel Knievel’s records using the same bike! With sponsorship from Wabash Valley Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram in Wabash, Brandt’s is able to host this epic event of the year in their dealership parking lot, open and free to the public of all ages!